At Oxford University, the Ashmolean Museum houses a well-known painting. Mark Gertler, an artist closely associated with the Bloomsbury Group of avant-garde artists, writers, intellectuals, and philosophers, painted "Gilbert Cannan at his Mill". It depicts ginger-haired writer Gilbert Cannan and his two Newfoundland dogs, one of which inspired Nana, the caretaker dog in J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan.”

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There was a young writer in the painting who was considered to be one of the most promising young writers in the world at the time, but he did not succeed and ended up in an asylum where he spent the last 20 years of his life. It should be noted, however, that at the time he painted the picture, he was married to J.M. Barrie’s ex-wife.

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The site was known to have contained windmills back in the 17th and 18th centuries, but the mill in Gertler's painting was built in 1884, which makes it one of the last of its kind in Britain at the time. It was the Cannans who were the first residents of the mill as a private residence and as an up-and-coming literary couple who were receiving many artsy visitors to the mill, such as philosophers such as D.H. Lawrence and Katharine Mansfield.

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The Cannans rented the mill in 1916 to celebrated theater actress and artist's model Doris Keane, who used it as a weekend retreat while performing in London. Former Cambridge Footlights member Sir David Hatch, director of BBC Radio and former member of John Cleese's, Tim Brook-Taylor and Graham Chapman's Cambridge Footlights was a resident more recently. There were many celebrity parties held at the mill with show business guests.

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As Rich Report documents, the mill has been extensively restored by the current owners, including restoring the cap, installing new sails, and installing a fantail made from Victorian materials. Despite being chained up for safety, the sails can be turned if desired. It is common for windmills to burn down if the sails turn too fast, as friction can spark a fire in the wooden components.

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The mill, along with its attached cottage, is listed Grade II. It includes four and possibly five bedrooms with three and a half bathrooms. There is a circular reception room at the bottom of the tower, which leads to the main entrance door. On this level, there are two more sitting rooms, one of which has a wood-burning stove.

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There is a spiral staircase leading to the lower ground floor, where there is an original flywheel on display in the dining room, and an Aga range in the large kitchen/breakfast room with French doors leading to the terrace.

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Four bedrooms and three bathrooms are located above the ground floor. As well as the main bedroom, there is a beautiful circular bedroom with a spiral staircase leading to a circular study that could be used as a fifth bedroom. The cap and workings can be accessed via a ladder from here.

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Across the street, there is a lovely English country garden with stone planters and a lovely view of the fields and countryside. There is a broad patch of lawn surrounded by idyllic spots where you can spend time alone or join a group of friends for a picnic. In addition to the main house, there are a number of outbuildings, including two summerhouses, a shed, and a workshop.

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There is a fascinating property that has been listed by Nick Pounce at Savills for $1.8 million, which is a fantastic deal. Surely the next owners of the windmill will be delighted to carry on the fascinating history of the windmill for themselves and all their artist and writer friends.

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